Canada

Australia and Canada don’t have particularly deep or close relations, but there are strong reasons to believe that closer Canberra-Ottawa ties would bring substantial benefits to both, writes Walter Russell Mead.

Canada has a comparatively open immigration policy designed to attract a group of diverse, educated professionals. But recent arrests linked to a terror cell have raised questions about integration of Muslims and lax policy.

The arrest of seventeen people in Canada who allegedly comprise an Islamic terrorist cell raises new questions about homegrown extremism in North America. While Canadians wrestle with their own vulnerability, the arrests prompted U.S. officials to reexamine security on their oft-ignored northern border.

North America is vulnerable on several fronts: the region faces terrorist and criminal security threats, increased economic competition from abroad, and uneven economic development at home. In response to these challenges, a trinational, Independent Task Force on the Future of North America has developed a roadmap to promote North American security and advance the well-being of citizens of all three countries. This report is also available in Spanish and French.

Three former high-ranking government officials from Canada, Mexico, and the United States call for a North American economic and security community by 2010 to address shared security threats, challenges to competitiveness, and interest in broad-based development across the three countries.